The European Union has issued a formal condemnation of Palestinian Authority textbooks, citing widespread antisemitism and glorification of jihad in educational materials used across West Bank schools.
The statement, reported by The Jerusalem Post, represents a significant diplomatic escalation from Brussels, which provides substantial funding to the Palestinian Authority and has historically been cautious about public criticism of PA governance.
According to the EU statement, the condemned textbooks contain content that "promotes hatred, violence, and antisemitic stereotypes" while "glorifying martyrdom and jihad in ways incompatible with peace education." The materials are distributed through PA Ministry of Education channels to hundreds of thousands of students in the West Bank.
The condemnation follows years of pressure from European Parliament members and civil society groups who have documented problematic content in PA curricula. Independent reviews by the Georg Eckert Institute in Germany identified numerous instances of maps erasing Israel, math problems incorporating violence, and history lessons framing armed struggle as the only path to Palestinian statehood.
"This represents a fundamental question about what kind of future generation is being raised," said one European diplomatic source familiar with the matter. "You cannot simultaneously call for peace negotiations while teaching children that their neighbors have no right to exist."
The EU has previously reduced funding to Palestinian educational institutions over textbook concerns, but this formal condemnation carries greater diplomatic weight. It comes as Brussels attempts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks following the normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab states through the .
